NEC's MultiSync desktop monitors have long been known for their outstanding performance, and the latest addition to the line, the EA275UHD ($799), continues that trend. Based on a 27-inch Advanced High-Performance In-Plane Switching (AH-IPS) panel with a 3,840-by-2,160 resolution, the EA275UHD delivers a razor-sharp Ultra-High-Definition (UHD) picture with rich, accurate colors, dark blacks, and wide viewing angles. It offers a fully adjustable stand and extensive power-saving features, but its port selection can't match that of our top pick for midrange UHD monitors, the ViewSonic VP2780-4K.

Design and FeaturesThe EA275UHD bears a striking resemblance to the NEC MultiSync EA244UHD (and most other MultiSync monitors for that matter). It has a 2.6-inch-thick, business-black cabinet with thin (0.60-inch) bezels and a matching round base and a mounting arm with height, swivel, tilt, and pivot adjustability. The lower bezel has an ambient light sensor and a presence sensor on the left, and five touch-sensitive function buttons on the right. Three additional function buttons are located on the lower-right-hand bezel. The light sensor works with the Auto Brightness setting to adjust the panel's luminance levels, depending on ambient light readings. The presence sensor is part of the EA275UHD's Human Sensing feature that puts the monitor into a power-saving standby mode when no movement is detected.

The rear of the cabinet holds one DVI port, one HDMI 2.0 port, and one DisplayPort 1.2 port. Here you'll also find one USB 3.0 upstream port and two USB 3.0 downstream ports, an audio input, and two ControlSync ports that allow you to take settings from one master monitor and push them to up to five additional monitors that are connected via ControlSync cables. A third USB 3.0 downstream port is located on the left side of the cabinet, next to a headphone jack. By way of comparison, the ViewSonic VP2780-4K gives you two DisplayPort inputs (one full-size, one mini), one HDMI 2.0 port, and two HDMI 1.4 ports that can also connect to, and charge, compatible MHL devices.

In addition to Brightness, Contrast, and Black Level adjustments, the EA275UHD offers six picture presets (Standard, Movie, Text, Gaming, Photo, and Dynamic) and seven color presets, including four color-temperature settings, a Native setting, an sRGB setting, and a Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) setting. There's also a Programmable setting that can be used with calibration software. Missing is advanced color adjustments that you get with the NEC EA244UHD, including Six-Color Hue, Six-Color Offset, and Six-Color Saturation settings. In addition to ambient-light-sensor and presence-sensor settings, you can conserve power using one of the two ECO mode settings; setting 1 reduces power usage by up to 15 percent, and setting 2 reduces power usage by up to 40 percent.

NEC covers the EA275UHD with a three-year warranty on parts, labor, and backlight. It ships with a Setup Manual, a DisplayPort cable, a ControlSync cable, and a USB upstream cable.

PerformanceThe EA275UHD delivered outstanding performance in my tests. As shown on the chromaticity chart below, red, green, and blue colors (represented by the colored dots) are right in line with their ideal CIE coordinates (represented by the boxes), indicating very accurate color reproduction. The IPS panel's ability to display very dark blacks helps give colors some extra pop while providing excellent contrast.

Gray-scale performance is typical for a good IPS panel. All shades of the DisplayMate 64-Step Gray-Scale test appeared clean and well-defined in our tests, resulting in sharp highlight and shadow detail in my UHD (4K) test photos. Viewing-angle performance was also top-notch in testing; colors remained rich, and luminance was steady, when viewed from top, bottom, and extreme side angles.

The panel's 6-millisecond (gray-to-gray) pixel response produced minor ghosting while playing Crysis 3 on the PC and again while playing Call of Duty Black Ops III on the Sony Playstation 4 (PS4). A middling input lag (the time it takes for the monitor to react to a controller command, as measured by the Leo Bodnar Video Signal Lag Tester) of 26.7 milliseconds is similar to the NEC EA244UHD (29.4 milliseconds), but neither are designed for gaming. The BenQ XL2430T gaming monitor (9.5 milliseconds) is our current lag-time leader.

The EA275UHD consumed 43 watts of power during testing while operating in Standard picture mode and with ECO mode disabled. It used 34 watts in ECO mode 1 and 23 watts in ECO mode 2. This is pretty much in line with the ViewSonic VP2780-4K's scores of 41 watts (Standard), 31 watts (Optimize ECO mode), and 21 watts (Conserve ECO mode).

ConclusionThe NEC MultiSync EA275UHD is a solid choice for home or work if you're looking to move up to a 27-inch UHD monitor. It offers excellent gray-scale and viewing-angle performance and rich colors. It also features several power-saving options and has a fully adjustable ergonomic stand. You don't get the advanced color settings that you would with the EA244UHD, but it delivers very accurate colors out of the box. If you need multiple HDMI and DisplayPort inputs, check out our Editors' Choice for midrange UHD monitors, the ViewSonic VP2780-4K. It costs around $90 more than the EA275UHD and it also delivers excellent performance, but it offers more digital video inputs and four USB 3.0 ports.

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About the Author

As a Contributing Editor for PCMag, John Delaney has been testing and reviewing monitors, TVs, PCs, networking and smart home gear, and other assorted hardware and peripherals for almost 20 years. A 13-year veteran of PC Magazine's Labs (most recently as Director of Operations), John was responsible for the recruitment, training and management of t... See Full Bio

NEC MultiSync EA275UHD

NEC MultiSync EA275UHD

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